I do not know, sir, that the fellow is an infidel; but if he be an infidel, he is an infidel as a dog is an infidel; that is to say, he has never thought upon the subject.
Samuel JohnsonThere is in this world no real delight (excepting those of sensuality), but exchange of ideas in conversation.
Samuel JohnsonMen are most powerfully affected by those evils which themselves feel, or which appear before their own eyes.
Samuel JohnsonMost men are more willing to indulge in easy vices than to practise laborious virtues.
Samuel JohnsonI know not why any one but a school boy in his declamation would whine over the Commonwealth of Rome, which grew great only by the misery of the rest of mankind. The Romans, like others, as soon as they were rich, grew corrupt; and in their corruption sold the lives and freedoms of themselves and of one another.
Samuel Johnson